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Morris J. Golombeck Spice Company

960 Franklin Avenue Architect unknown 1900

A sure sign of approaching this industrial complex is the pleasant scent of cardamom and cinnamon wafting down the street. Before it became the Morris J. Golombeck Spice Company in 1955, it was originally constructed as the Consumer’s Brewery, the first brewery in the United States to be powered entirely by electricity. In addition to the brewery, in its heyday, this multi-building complex also housed the long-gone Brick Garden Hotel – a restaurant, beer garden and entertainment venue. Notably, the complex’s influence was such that it had its own stop on the Brighton Line of the subway, now part of the Franklin Avenue shuttle. The business later merged with the Interboro Brewing Company, but unfortunately failed with the advent of Prohibition. At that time, the subway station closed and the platform was removed. The handsome Romanesque Revival style factory and its Queen Anne style auxiliary building are endangered treasures in this area of low density and large lots. Development has already claimed the lots across the street, once home to a commercial laundry complex.